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Is tap water in Thailand safe to consume?
Wondering if you can drink the tap water in Thailand? From brushing your teeth to filling up a bottle, it’s helpful to understand a few basics. Tap water safety in Thailand varies by location, and while some people use it...
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Phuket businesses face software inspection raids
PHUKET: Computers used in Phuket businesses will be targeted in raids by modern bounty hunters on the lookout for unlicensed copies of software from October 26 onwards.Under intellectual property rights legislation, the Business Software Alliance (BSA) will be sending inspectors acting on behalf of copyright holders to search offices, first in Bangkok and then in Phuket, which is a principal…
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Viagra goes to new lengths in Phuket
PHUKET: Viagra will soon be sold in Phuket pharmacies following a decision by Thailand’s Food and Drug Administration (FDA).The drug was previously only available through hospitals or illegally on the black market.The drug, sildenafil citrate, most commonly known under the Pfizer company trade name ‘Viagra’, alleviates erectile dysfunction syndrome (EDS or male impotence).In a bid to stem the illegal sale…
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Phuket Gazette Poll Results: Prevent drownings with better safety campaign
PHUKET: Phuket Gazette readers favor a tourist information campaign as the most effective way to prevent drownings on Phuket’s beaches, according to the last Gazette Poll. Of 806 readers who voted, 34 percent thought a campaign warning of the dangers of swimming in the sea was the best way to prevent more deaths. Thai nationals were only 25 percent in favor…
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Doors open for Phuket Hospitality Show
PHUKET: Cooks, cakes, wines, spas and a plethora of products and services catering to the hospitality industry went on display today when the RPM International Exhibition & Conference Center opened its doors for Phuket’s first International Hospitality Show. The three-day event is attracting a wide variety of people and businesses involved in the region’s hospitality sector, giving participants and attendees the…
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Autism treatment success at Phuket hospital
PHUKET CITY: Vachira Phuket Hospital says it is successfully treating children with autism using a treatment known as ‘hyperbaric oxygen therapy’ (HBOT). HBOT patients spend periods inside a ‘hyperbaric chamber’ – the same sort of high-pressure oxygen chamber commonly used by divers for decompression and treatment of the bends. Parents of children who have completed a course of HBOT at…
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Crown Prince arrives in Phuket today
PHUKET: HRH Crown Prince Maha Vajiralongkorn, together with Royal Consort HRH Princess Srirasmi and HRH Prince Teepangkorn Rasmichoti, arrives in Phuket today on an unofficial visit.The Crown Prince and his family will leave the island at 3pm on September 29 via Phuket International Airport, where he will grant an audience to the people.Anyone who wants to attend is advised to…
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Bids invited for Phuket jet-ski insurance contract
PHUKET CITY: Insurance companies have 15 days to submit bids for a contract to insure every jet-ski on Phuket, it was announced at the latest ‘jet-ski summit’ at Phuket Provincial Hall today. By November 8 – thirty days after the bid deadline – every operator in Phuket will have to apply for insurance or stop doing business. For our previous…
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Phuket corruption cases to be fought on home turf
PHUKET CITY: Phuket people seeking justice over incompetent, uncooperative or corrupt bureaucrats will be able to fight for their rights in Phuket when the Phuket Administrative Court opens in 2011. Thailand’s Administrative Courts handle disputes over the conduct of government officers. An event last week at the Metropole Hotel in Phuket City aimed to inform the public about the role of Administrative Courts…
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Phuket people wish His Majesty a speedy recovery
PHUKET: Following His Majesty the King’s admission to Siriraj Hospital in Bangkok on Saturday, a book has been placed outside the Phuket Governor’s office at Phuket Provincial Hall for people to sign and wish His Majesty well. According to statements issued by the Royal Household Bureau, His Majesty was admitted to Siriraj Hospital with a high fever and has been…
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OPINION: Let computers deal with Phuket’s jet-skis
PHUKET: Wouldn’t it be better if Phuket’s government were turned over to computers? Surely an application exists whereby, having keyed in the facts, viable results emerge. As it is, local government tends to tip-toe around decision-making until matters are manifestly out-of-hand. Let’s take as a case in point the current eruption involving jet-skis precipitated by a YouTube video-clip showing a…
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Wake for Bill Owen
RAWAI, PHUKET: A wake will be held at Nikitas on the Rawai beach road tomorrow night (Tuesday, September 22) for long term Phuket resident Bill Owen, who died on Tuesday last week. Mr Owen, a popular entrepreneur who made his home on Phuket for more than 20 years, died in a hospital in Swansea, South Wales after a battle with…
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Phuket Excise Office closes big bike loophole
PHUKET: The Phuket Excise Office says big bike owners have until September 25 to pay excise on motorcycles assembled from parts – or face hefty fines. Motorcycles subject to prohibitive tariffs have long been assembled from parts by ‘grey market’ operators in order to avoid paying the tax. Now excise officials insist the owners of such vehicles – not the…
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Pedal power proves popular in Phuket
PHUKET: Environmental awareness was given a boost in Phuket on Sunday when about 250 Phuket cyclists took a tour of the island in support of Phuket Car Free Day.The cyclists, all dressed in orange shirts provided by Phuket City Municipality, pushed off from Phuket Provincial Hall at 9am with a send-off from Phuket Provincial Energy Office director Jirasak Thommayet.The cyclists…
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Turtle found dead on Phuket’s Patong Beach
PATONG, PHUKET: A sea turtle was found dead on Patong Beach in front of Impiana Phuket Cabana Resort & Spa about 6am on Saturday. The olive ridley turtle, found by members of the hotel staff, measured about 50cm long by 43cm wide. Marine Biologist Phaothep Cherdsukjai from the Phuket Marine Biological Center at Cape Panwa said he expected “the turtle…
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Phuket gears up for the ‘ultimate beach party’
KARON, PHUKET: Phuket is about to witness the birth of its very own dance music festival – ‘Roy Fest’, which debuts on Karon Beach this weekend. In Southern Thai, ‘roy‘ means ‘fun’, and the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) is hoping the more than 50 international DJs and musicians it has booked for Roy Fest will help the party live…
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Industry experts warm up for Hospitality Show
PHUKET: The region’s hospitality industry is heating up for the first International Hospitality Show, to be held at the RPM International Exhibition & Conference Center in Phuket from September 24 to 26. The three-day event will include a trade exhibition featuring: suppliers from all areas of hospitality; a demonstration forum, the Phuket Culinary Fair; and various industry-specific seminars. Exhibits will…
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Phuket workshop prepares for disaster
PATONG, PHUKET: “How can communities best prepare themselves for disaster?” was the question posed to participants at an international workshop held earlier this week in Patong.The Sixth Practitioners’ Workshop on Disaster Risk Reduction in Asia and the Pacific was held over three days, September 15-17, and brought together some 190 “influential people” from 26 countries – representing governments, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and…
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Phuket jet-skis: agreement reached on insurance scheme
PATONG, PHUKET: Phuket jet-ski operators will have to get accident insurance for their vehicles or cease doing business on Phuket’s beaches, it was agreed at the key ‘jet-ski summit’ in Patong today. Inside the packed meeting hall at Patong Municipality today were Vice Governor Smith Palawatvichai, Phuket Provincial Police Commander Pekad Tantipong, Kathu Police Superintendent Grissak Songmoonnark, Deputy Mayor of…
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Swine flu crisis abating in Phuket
PHUKET CITY: Thanks to continuing measures to prevent the spread of swine flu, Phuket’s authorities believe the crisis is abating. Rapid spread this year of the flu, formally identified as ‘novel influenza virus A (H1N1)’, led the World Health Organization (WHO) – for the first time since 1968’s Hong Kong flu – to declare a global pandemic. In Phuket, two…
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Company faces prosecution for Phuket jet-ski show
PHUKET CITY: The Thai television company responsible for producing the Big Trouble in Tourist Thailand series, which featured footage of an alleged jet-ski scam on Phuket, is to be prosecuted, the Bangkok Post reported today. The managers of Black Sheep Productions, which produced the show, could face 12 months in jail and fines of up to a million baht, the…
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World’s oldest man a teenager again
PHUKET: The world’s oldest living man, Luang Pu Supha, a revered abbot who lives in Chalong, Phuket, is celebrating his 113th birthday today. His landmark birthday makes him a teenager for the second time. The festivities are taking place at his Phuket temple, just off Chao Fa Road West in Chalong. Luang Pu Supha is reputed to have been born on…
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Phuket UFOs still a mystery – or are they?
PHUKET CITY: The Department of Medical Sciences in Bangkok continues to puzzle over the small transparent spheres a Phuket family claim ‘dropped from the sky’ onto their roof earlier this month. Spokesperson Wiriya Panwat told the Gazette, “We still don’t know what they are,” adding that the results of the department’s tests on the objects would not be released until…
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One-Two-Go crash remembered on Phuket
MAI KHAO, PHUKET: On the second anniversary of the One-Two-Go air crash at Phuket International Airport [PIA], two survivors of the accident held a private ceremony of remembrance on the island today.Marcel Squinobal and Christoph Salchetti, who were both on the plane when it crashed, flew all the way from Germany to pay their respects to their friends Andreas Adelhard and Sabine Schumacher,…
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Bill Owen: Farewell to a great friend of Phuket
PHUKET: The passing of Bill Owen leaves his many Phuket friends in great sadness. His battle with lung cancer came to an end at a hospital in Swansea, South Wales, the city where he started life 59 years ago. Bill came to Phuket 22 years ago, in October 1987, on a brief visit after attending a friend’s wedding in New…
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No ban on Phuket marinas
PHUKET: Asked by a number of readers to check on a report that there is now a ban on further marina and pier development projects in Phuket, the Gazette has today obtained confirmations that such is not the case. According to both the Department of Natural Resources and Environment (DNRE) and the Office of the Governor of Phuket, with whom…
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A Life Remembered”¦ A tribute to Keith Floyd
PHUKET: Following the death of renowned celebrity chef Keith Floyd in the UK earlier this week, a memorial moment will be held on Thursday evening at Floyd’s Brasserie, Burasari Resort in Patong. The memorial event is scheduled from 5pm to 7pm. Drinks and snacks will be available and there will be a video presentation of the late chef. Guests will…
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Trawling fingered as threat to Phuket dolphins
PHUKET: Trawling by fishermen in the seas off Phuket and other parts of Thailand has led, it is charged, to the deaths of around 20 dolphins since the beginning of this year.Two more turned up dead last week in Satun province, on the southern border with Malaysia, and one was found on Saturday, badly injured in the surf off Nai…
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Seven-year-old drowns in Phuket pool
RASSADA, PHUKET: An unsupervised seven-year-old boy drowned in a swimming pool at the Top Land housing estate on Saturday.Police were alerted to the incident about 2pm by residents of the estate, located near the Tungka elementary school in tambon Rassada.They rushed to the scene with emergency workers and found the boy, identified as Prawit Manapreecha-ngamlert, a student at Ketho School,…
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Phuket based celebrity chef Keith Floyd passes away
PHUKET: The Phuket Gazette has learned that Phuket-based celebrity chef Keith Floyd, owner of Floyd’s Brasserie at Burasari Resort Patong, Phuket, has died following a heart attack on Monday at his home in Dorset in the UK.He was 65 years old. — Gazette Reporters
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Bill Owen has passed away
PHUKET: Bill Owen, the founder of The Travel Company and, later, the events management firm Oriental Leisure, passed away in hospital earlier this morning in Swansea, South Wales. The popular entrepreneur had been a Phuket resident for more than 20 years and was best known for his enthusiasm about Thailand and southeast Asian travel, and for his zest for life.…
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